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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Most 5-foot-9, 160-pound point guards don’t have a back big enough to carry an entire team, let alone one with the added weight of enormous expectations at a place like Kentucky, but that’s exactly what Tyler Ulis is trying to do right now.

He's played an average of 38.7 minutes over the last 11 games and, after a career-high 24 points in a win at Arkansas on Thursday night, is averaging 19.1 points and 7.1 assists over the last seven. That includes a near triple-double in an upset loss to Auburn on Saturday, after which he was clearly dejected.

“When you have a couple guys that aren’t doing what they’re capable of doing every game, it puts him in a bad spot,” Wildcats coach John Calipari said. “He has to make plays or take shots that he shouldn’t have to take, but he wants to win so bad that he does it anyway. Like, he was disappointed in himself (after Auburn). ‘I should’ve done more.’ ”

But what more could Ulis do? Make a few more shots maybe, although many of his misses in a 5-for-17 performance against the Tigers were desperation heaves – and he’d shot 50 percent in the five previous games. Bottom line: he’s the only player UK count on to give all-out effort all the time, and his reward for that is never getting a break.

“I’m really proud of him right now, because I do think he’s shouldering a large part of the load. But Tyler’s not a stranger to that,” said Mike Taylor, Ulis’ coach at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago. “A lot of the things he’s asked to do – granted, it’s on a much bigger stage – that’s what he’s used to. He did it for four years here, so I’m not surprised.

“I couldn’t take him off the floor, and you can see that Coach Cal is very uncomfortable taking him off the floor.”

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Video | Ulis on UK's upset loss at Auburn

When seven players off last season’s 38-1 team left for the NBA, Ulis knew there would be increased responsibility. He couldn’t have imagined it would be this much. He couldn’t have known that prized recruit Skal Labissiere would become a non-factor for Kentucky or that veteran forwards Marcus Lee and Alex Poythress would no-show seemingly every other game.

He surely expected a three-guard lineup with five-star freshmen Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe would be a little more devastating than it has been. While Murray is a scoring machine and Briscoe has shown flashes, both rookies still make enough mistakes to keep Calipari screaming from the opening tip to the final horn.

So that leaves Ulis to be the glue that keeps this young team – with plenty of talent still to make a run come March – from falling apart.

“He’s doing what it takes to try to win,” assistant coach John Robic said. “I think it’s a responsibility for everybody that’s on the floor to try and take that away from him.”

In other words, it’s time for Ulis’ teammates to step up and match both the intensity and quality of his play. When they don’t, they hear about it. Ulis has not been shy about challenging the others, either to their face or through his public comments.

He shoved Labissiere after a weak rebound attempt at UCLA, and after the Auburn loss said the Cats “had people who didn’t want to play.” Ulis was hoarse from an illness that day and looked thoroughly disgusted by the stunning defeat.

His mom watched video of that interview and “was really disturbed by it, because she knows he’s sad,” said Ulis’ father, James. “In high school, we didn’t talk after games. No one talked in the car. He takes losing very bad. So I just try to encourage him: A great leader will lead when times are good – 38-0 – and when times are bad, when you’ve got a few losses.

“I want him to keep leading and keep influencing and keep playing his heart out. Set the tone and at some point that becomes contagious, right?”

Labissiere believes it will. He took the shove from Ulis in stride, recognizing the spirit from which it came.

“He loves to win and the rest of the team, we have to follow him,” Labissiere said, “and definitely have that same drive to win every game like he does.”

On the bad days, James Ulis reminds his son that all the big goals – SEC and NCAA titles – are still out there for Kentucky. A revolving door at No. 1 in the national polls is proof there’s no dominant team in college basketball this season, and the Cats still have time to put all their talented pieces together before March.

They also have a fiery floor general in Ulis, who is doing all he can to drag them toward that finish line.

“That was a conversation we had: ‘Man, if you’re going to be a leader of a team, if you’re going to run a major college program, you have to hold people accountable,’ ” James Ulis said. “No different than me. I’m a district manager in my job and I have to have uncomfortable conversations with people that work for me and that I go to battle with. But that’s part of being a leader and that’s what he signed up for.

“I do think that they see he’s frustrated and disappointed and I think they want to play well and give him their all. I think they’re disappointed, too, because all the kids have high expectations.”

Back at Marian Catholic, where Ulis set all-time records for points, assists and steals, his former coach has seen what happens to a team when the inexhaustible point guard starts to rub off on his teammates.

“Hopefully the message is getting there with them right now,” Taylor said, “because he’s not going to be able to do it by himself. They have to understand he’s going to make each of them better if they just get on board. It’s not about him being a 20-point scorer. He’d rather get the ball to Murray. He’d rather get the ball inside to Alex and Marcus and those guys.

“As soon as they get on board with that, I think you’ll see a big improvement with this team.”